HALIFAX — An idled Nova Scotia pulp mill has been given another year to complete an environmental assessment for its project to build a new effluent treatment facility.

The provincial Environment Department says it granted Northern Pulp the extension last week after the company had requested one.

In March 2022 Environment Minister Tim Halman released the terms of reference for the Abercrombie, N.S., mill’s assessment report.

The two-year deadline for that report was originally set for this week.

The mill closed operations in January 2020 after the former Liberal government of premier Stephen McNeil rejected plans for a new effluent treatment facility.

That government passed legislation in 2015 requiring effluent to stop flowing into a tidal estuary near the Pictou Landing First Nation by 2020.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press